My first game was also my first away game. It came in the 1996 season and it was at Old Trafford with my father. Born in Nottingham, I grew up in Cheshire so all of my friends were united or Liverpool fans which made winning football related arguments incredibly difficult but I stuck to my guns and followed in my dad’s footsteps of being a dedicated forest fan. At the time I was only young, about 6 or 7, so my memories of it are fairly limited, but I remember arriving a few minutes late to miss forest take the lead, the infamous Alf-Inge Haaland getting the goal. I didn’t quite understand what was going on as I walked to my seat with all the forest fans up cheering and I was gutted when I heard we had missed the goal!
What followed didn’t exactly put in a great advert for Nottingham forest to a kid as young as I as I watched from the away terraces a Man United class act, with Giggs standing out in memory as having a blinder and scoring a wonderful goal.
A late Cantona double, one from the penalty spot, sealed the win but for some reason unbeknown to even myself, from that day onwards I was a red, and not of the demonic kind. Leaving the ground was a nightmare, getting stuck in the car park for over an hour as 55000 fans poured out, but despite the defeat and unorganised car park, it was a great experience for a first game and cemented my desire to attend fixtures more regularly.
Moving back to the East Midlands made this easier, although the price of adult season tickets is quite absurd for a 21 year old, but how I would love to bring back the days where trips to Old Trafford, and even Wembley, were a yearly fixture.
What followed didn’t exactly put in a great advert for Nottingham forest to a kid as young as I as I watched from the away terraces a Man United class act, with Giggs standing out in memory as having a blinder and scoring a wonderful goal.
A late Cantona double, one from the penalty spot, sealed the win but for some reason unbeknown to even myself, from that day onwards I was a red, and not of the demonic kind. Leaving the ground was a nightmare, getting stuck in the car park for over an hour as 55000 fans poured out, but despite the defeat and unorganised car park, it was a great experience for a first game and cemented my desire to attend fixtures more regularly.
Moving back to the East Midlands made this easier, although the price of adult season tickets is quite absurd for a 21 year old, but how I would love to bring back the days where trips to Old Trafford, and even Wembley, were a yearly fixture.
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